Table saw

I'm not in the market for a table saw. Don't have the space to store one, don't have any huge construction projects on the horizon, I simply don't need a table saw.

But, I was surfing around on a local buy sell trade website, and someone less than a mile from me was selling a table saw for 40 bucks. I figured that no matter what brand it was, if it ran it was worth 40 bucks. I loaded the boy-o into the pickup, and we drove over.

The woman must have been in her late seventies. She was spry and moved well, which probably had something to do with keeping up with her beautiful yard. I shook her hand, introduced myself, and we walked to her shed in the back.

It was a Craftsman table saw, one of the contractor-jobsite table saws. While on the smallish side, it came with a hand built wooden stand that someone years ago took the time to build, finish, and paint a medium grey color that matches the table saw. I told her that as long as it ran, I would buy it.

I picked it up and moved it outside near an outlet, plugged it in, and pulled the switch. The hum of a big motor rotating the blade reached my ears.

"I'll take it, Ma'am."

" Oh, how delightful!"

"Ma'am, it's worth more than 40 dollars. How much do you want for it?" I pulled 6 twenties out of my pocket, and looked at her questioningly.

"Son, it was my dad's. He passed away a while ago, and it's just been collecting dust for 10 years. I want 40 dollars for it."

"Yes Ma'am. Thank you. I'll just load this up."

"Come back to the garage after you load it up."

I put it in the bed of the truck, and strapped it down. I approached the woman again, and she started handing me accessories! She had a rip fence, the blade changing wrenches, a sled, and a pusher.

"Ma'am, I appreciate it. This is worth way more than a few twenties. Are you sure?"

She gave a little half laugh, and shook her head. "Sonny, I'm glad you can use it. Better than it collecting dust for another 10 years."

It was quite for a moment. She looked up into my eyes "when you had your wallet out, I saw a card that said 'Agent'. Are you police?"

"Yes Ma'am"

She held my gaze as her lips tightened briefly. I could tell that she had a lot she wanted to say. In that moment, I could feel how much she cared for my safety, and I knew that if she could, she would tell me how the portrayal of some things that have been going on for the past few years were unfair, and that she was glad that some were still willing to be police in spite of news coverage, and community attitudes. She wanted to tell me how safe she felt knowing that we Rough Men were around, patrolling, keeping the community safe.

She breathed deep and held my eyes.

"Sonny, please be safe out there."

I spoke softly back.

"Yes Ma'am."

There are some things that are of an even greater value than a 40 dollar table saw.